Synopsis
An Essay Towards Attaining A True Idea Of The Character And Reign Of King Charles The First And The Causes Of The Civil War: Extracted From And Delivered In The Very Words Of Some Of The Most Authentic And Celebrated Historians Viz. Clarendon, Whitelock, Burnet, Coke, Echard, Rapin, Tindal, Neal, &C by Micaiah Towgood. The work collects and presents the historical testimonies of noted 17th? and 18th?century historians (Clarendon, Whitelock, Burnet, Coke, Echard, Rapin, Tindal, Neal, among others) in order to formulate a portrait of Charles I and the origins of the Civil War. Towgood frames the collection with a prefatory account of each historian’s perspective, then compiles chapters and essays that argue the rebellion and civil strife flowed not from religious faction among the people, but from the Crown’s overreach: illegal taxation (ship money and other impositions), dissolution of Parliament, suppression of liberties, expansion of episcopal and Catholic?leaning policies, and the Queen’s influence. It moves through key causes, including royal prerogatives, parliamentary prerogatives, relations with Scotland and Ireland, and the later Revolution’s constitutional justification, culminating in an assessment of the revolution as a lawful restoration of a constitutional monarchy. The volume also discusses the controversial Eikon Basilike and presents a defense of parliamentary sovereignty rooted in historic constitutional principles.
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